Garment hanger



July 19, 1938. v MITH 2,123,973

GARMENT HANGER Filed Dec. 5, 1954 Patented July 19, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCE 2 Claims.

My present invention relates to garment hangers, and has particular reference to hangers of the folding type.

Garment hangers are used for supporting dresses and suits; the standard type hangers are made of wood or of wire, with the garment supporting arms rigid. This rigidity, while ordinarily not a detriment, has a disadvantageous feature when the hangers are used in a dress shop featuring expensive dresses, as the insertion of the hanger through the neck of a dress of delicate material, and particularly if the neck opening is small, has a tendency to stretch and possibly to tear the neck. Such dresses are therefore usually mounted on the hanger by inserting the hanger upwardly through the dress, or by carefully and slowly easing the dress over the hanger.

It is the principal object of my invention to devise a garment hanger which may be inserted through a narrow neck opening of a dress, without injury to the dress and without requiring undue care. To this end, I have provided a hanger construction with foldable arms which may be swung towards each other to decrease the size of the hanger and facilitate insertion of the hanger through the neck of a dress.

The use of foldable arms, however, requires further attention on the part of the attendant; it is an additional object of my invention to provide a hanger having folding or swinging arms, with additional means for automatically opening the arms after the hanger has been inserted within the neck of a dress.

With the above and other objects and advantageous features in view, my invention consists of a novel arrangement of parts more fully disclosed in the detailed description following, in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, and more specifically defined in the claims appended thereto.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a view showing the novel hanger in use as a dress hanger;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the hanger;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation with the arms in folded position;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view, showing a modified construction, suitable for mens suits;

Fig. 5 is a plan View showing a modified construction suitable for traveling, having a catch for retaining the arms in folded position;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of a construction suitable for wire hangers; and

Fig. '7 is an enlarged detail showing one form of lock connection. I

It has been found desirable to provide a garment hanger having folding or swinging arms. I have therefore devised a garment hanger which has two hingedly connected arms, and I have positioned a spring between the arms, preferably at the hinge joint, to resiliently urge the folded arms to open position. I have also provided a retaining catch, to keep the arms folded together for convenience in traveling; if desired, the hanger may be rendered suitable for mens garments, by providing two strips lockable when the arms are in open position, and adapted to support trousers. These constructions are more fully described in the subsequent paragraphs.

Referring to the drawing, the garment hanger H! has two arms, I I, I2 and a hook l3, the shank of the hook preferably extending through the sides of two hinge plates I4, l5 to function as a hinge pin, the shank also serving as a support for a coil spring 16 which has its ends extending to contact the plates l4, l5. Knobs or pins Il may be provided to act as abutments or stops for dress shoulder straps.

The arms of the hanger may be swung towards each other, as shown in Fig. 3, the coil spring being compressed, whereby the arms may be inserted in the neck of a dress, and then permitted to swing to open position under the resilient action of the spring; the attendant may readily control the opening action by holding both arms in the vicinity of the hook.

If the hanger is designed for mens garments, the arms ll, I2 are provided with strips l8, l9, hinged to the under side thereof, the strip I8 having a slot 20, and the strip l9 having a two part lock snap 2|, depending therefrom, which is insertable in the slot 20, the lower part of the lock snap being rotatable to look below the strip I8, in the manner standard for automobile top snap catches.

When the hanger is to be carried in traveling bags, it is preferred to retain the arms in folded position, thus simplifying packing; a retainer catch 22, having one end pivoted in an ear 23 on one arm, and having its other end normally held in a second car 24, may be swung over the other arm to hold the two arms together, the tension of the spring between the two arms urging the arms outwardly and providing a resilient force which prevents disengagement or accidental release of the retainer catch.

The above constructions are particularly suitable for wood hangers; a construction for wire 55 hangers is shown in Figs. 6 and '7. In wire hangers, one arm 25 is formed with ahook 26, and may be of any type of wire; the other arm 21 is preferably of spring stock, and is wound around the shank of the hook to form a coil 28, its end 29 being locked to the shank. One look arrangemen't is shown in Fig. '7, the shank being flattened as at 30, and the end 29 being riveted thereto. 'The two arms may be swung towards each other, thus compressing the spring coil 28, and will be moved to open position as the spring pressure is allowed to function.

The invention, although disclosed in connec. tion with hinged arms, may be applied to Sliding arms; for example, one arm may be guided to slide beside or below the other, and spring pressed to extended position, as by means of a coil spring, or one arm may telescope in the other, and be urged to extended position by a spring seated in the outer telescoping arm and engaging the inner telescoping arm.

While I have described specific hanger construct'ions, it is clear that the size and relative arrangement of the parts, the form of spring used, and its mounting between the arms of the hanger, may be varied to suit the requirements for different hangers, without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a garment hanger, two arms each having a hinge plate, a hook having a shank passing through said plates and serving as a hinge pin therefor, and a coil spring seated on said pin and having its ends contacting said hinge plates.

2. In a garment hanger, a pair of arms, a hinge including hinge leaves attached to said arms, and spring means engaging the hinge leaves and urging said hinge to an arm extended position, said arms being movable to contiguous position against the resistance of said spring means, said spring means exerting a maximum arm extending force when said arms are in contiguous position.

NORMAN B. SMITH. 

